Gentrification And Revitalization

In the global city of Washington, DC, gentrification related to affordable housing and social/racial tensions is becoming more and more prevalent. This, in turn, is affecting the future of the community and having adverse implications for the city’s old and new inhabitants. Gentrification is the practice of revitalizing or reforming a community to appeal to higher-class tastes, most often the tastes of the white middle-class. While gentrification is sometimes associated with increases in racial diversity and does not always lead to displacement, many researchers claim that it prices out long term-residents and brings about black-to-white racial change. Gentrifying neighborhoods typically experience reductions in the number of black residents;…show more content…In the city’s efforts to rehabilitate ailing neighborhoods and the central business district, it is working towards the goal of enhancing the overall aesthetic qualities of the jurisdiction. A number of neighborhoods in Washington, DC have received media attention for their undergoing revitalization, including the U Street Corridor, Columbia Heights, LeDroit Park, Bloomingdale, and Petworth. While several of these neighborhoods appear to have undergone dramatic changes, many residents within the city remain concerned over how this affects people susceptible to displacement, especially African Americans. The most recent mayoral election reflected the worry over gentrification and displacement, as the ousted Mayor Fenty received a majority of white votes, while his opponent, Gray, received a majority of black votes (Jackson 2014). In addition, as resources pour in to rehabilitate or redevelop communities, residents often become discontent with how the dynamics of the neighborhood change, particularly because they are not part of the decision-making process. Specific to black out-migration and white in-migration, displaced residents vent their displeasure, anger and distrust of the revitalization process and feel that they are forced out of their communities and homes to make way for white newcomers, who are described as “self-indulgent, happy go-go-lucky intruders”…show more content…For example, Lavone Twitty, a native resident of Washington, DC, has two daughters in D.C. public schools and has found herself unable to keep up with rising rents and describes her experiences as “being swept out of town on a tide of gentrification” (Molloy 2016). Another example involves Loretta Holloman, a resident of Northeast Washington, who is experiencing first-hand the displacement that comes with gentrification. She lives in Brookline Manor, a World War II-era development of 19 squat brick blockhouses with 535 no-frills apartments. A few miles north of the U.S. Capitol, the complex is occupied mainly by low-income tenants whose rents are government-subsidized. As the District’s growing affluence spreads in every direction, the tide of prosperity is moving toward Brookland Manor, and Brookland’s owner has decided that the complex will raze and rebuild to erect a modern, denser, more aesthetically attractive complex of 1,760 residences with an array of amenities, and far pricier rents for most tenants. But in a city with a critical shortage of affordable housing, massive redevelopments such as this have become manifestations and symbols of the problems faced by those of modest means who are fearful of being displaced by more affluent newcomers in the District’s booming real estate market. There is a dearth of low and

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Essay 3
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